Peter Hessler, Tibetan plateau, Country Driving
This book depicts Peter Hessler's journey that started in the summer of 2001 through 7000miles of China. Hessler made this book comprehendible by subdividing it into three sections. In the first section, he analyzes the Great wall starting from Beijing and venturing to the Tibetan plateau (Hessler, 2010). He brings to light the fact that having previously built walls to keep away foreigners; China was now building factories and roads to open up to the world. Hessler learns that the economic expansion has lured the youth from their farms to the expanding factories.
Further, the author focuses on the village, which becomes a tourist destination after an auto revolution, as more people can explore the countryside thus facilitating the interaction of the urban and rural people. In the last section, Hessler focuses on Lishui a city in southeastern china and he witnesses the transformation of the town to an industrial centre and the impact of the change on the local people. Throughout the text, Hessler shows his respect for China and its people. In this context, I am going to focus on the theme of change in the reform era as brought out by Hessler in Country Driving.
[...] However, their determination to succeed is evident, as Hessler observed while in a bra strap loop-making factory owned by Boss Gao and Boss Wang the workers had written various slogans on the walls. Landowners who are mostly the poor farmers are exploited since they are coerced to sell their land cheaply. Hessler gives an example where land was bought from farmers at $1million and sold it for $37million after its development. Furthermore, Hessler brings to light the fact that for investors to acquire the developed land in the bidding process, they must have connections (guanxi). [...]
[...] C. (1965). Farm to factory change: A history of the Consumers Cooperative Association. Columbia, Mo: Missouri University Press. [...]
[...] For them climbing the social ladder is a journey that requires backing from others with even greater connections. Guanxi is acceptable and represents a personal recourse that makes life livable with connections. Despite the economic transformations, some people especially those are rural areas remain sidelined since they have to struggle to access basic services like health care. Corruption is evident, for instance, a dam building project stalls because those entrusted with it cannot account for their use of the money. [...]
[...] Furthermore, the economic transformation only benefits few people who can afford guanxi with which to forge business connections at the expense of the larger population. One wonders about the essence of change if it fails to bring happiness to the people. Change should work towards fulfilling the needs of the people and improving not only they're economic but also general welfare. Bibliography Hessler, P. (2010). Country Driving today: A Journey Through China From Agricultural Farm to Factory. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Fite, G. [...]
[...] Hessler learns that the economic expansion has lured the youth from their farms to the expanding factories. Further, the author focuses on the village, which becomes a tourist destination after an auto revolution, as more people can explore the countryside thus facilitating the interaction of the urban and rural people. In the last section, Hessler focuses on Lishui a city in southeastern china and he witnesses the transformation of the town to an industrial centre and the impact of the change on the local people. [...]
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